ceutchley



, 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. 1 GR'UTOHL-EY.

Safety Look for Fire Arms.

Patented Aug. 24,1880;

I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. F.v GRUTGHLEY.

l Safety Look for Fire Arms. N0. 231,542.

Patented Aug 24, 1880.

N- FEFER S, FHOTO LITHOGRAFHEIL WASH NGTON D O UNITED STATES PATENTFREDERICK CRUTCHLEY, ()F BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES PRYSE,OF SAME PLACE.

SAFETY-LOCK FOR FIRE-ARMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 231,542, dated August24, 1880. Application filed March 26, 1880. (No model.) Patented inEngland September 15, 1879.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Bcit known that I, FRED ERICK URUTOHLEY, of Birmingham, in the county ofVV-arwick, England, have invented certain Improvements in the LockMechanism of Double-Ghambered Breech-Loading Guns, which improvementsare fully set forth in the following specification and accompanyingdrawingsthat is to say:

My invention has for its object improvements in the lock mechanism ofdoublechambered breech-loading guns whose hammers are internally pla ed,or what are known as hammerless" guns; and it consists in thecombinations of parts set forth in the annexed claims.

According to my invention, I use a double or forked mainspring actingdirectly upon the internal hammers, as shown clearly in the three sideelevations, Figures 1, 5, and 10, where the points a of the spring a areclearly shown bearingagainstthe shoulder b, which is formed in each ofthe hammers I). These hammers b are hung upon the pivots e of thetriggerplate 0. The under lever, F, for cooking and for withdrawing thebolt g to open the gun, is also hung in a slot in and under thetriggerplate 0, to work freely between the two internal hammers, whichare impelled forward, when the triggers are pulled, by the forked endsof my double mainspring.

All the views are shown with the gun mechanism in the cooked position,but locked by the safety-catch h, which bears upon the trigger z',preventing it from being lifted.

The safety-catch is unlocked by simply pushing the bolt h forward towardthe front of the gun by means of the thumbpiece h. After the gun isfired the breech is opened by means of the before-mentioned lever Fbeing pressed downward, which brings the pin j into the recess k of thehammers, which does not extend entirely across their faces, but leaves aweb in each hammer, for the purpose of imparting greater strength tothem. This will be more clearly seen in the side elevation, Fig. 2,where the left leg of the mainsprin g and the left hammer are removedfor greater clearness in illustrating the recesses 7c in the hammers.The action of opening the breech also cooks the hammers, and they carrythe safety-catch back into the locked position, as shown, the hammersthemselves returning and settling under the sears Z, but sufficientlyforward to leave the necessary space, "In, for allowing the safetycatchto be brought sufficientl y forward to miss the projections upon thetrigger-plates.

Fig. 3 is a plan of the actions shown in elevation by Figs. 1 and 2, andFig. 4 is a backend elevation of the same action. Fig. 5 is a sideelevation of a similar action, shown as applied to a gun having a toplever, N, for opening the breech. In this case the hammers are carriedto the cooked position by the two friction-rollers o 0 of thebarrel-locking bolt 19, (or the roller may be dispensed with.) Thesafety-catch is moved forward to its locked position over the triggersby the horn q, which projects from the said l'iarrel-locking boltbetween the rollers, the safetycatch h being car- 'ried down in thiscase to meet the said horn q.

The inverted plan, Fig 6, shows the top lever, N, turned to the rightside of the gun and the barrel-locking bolt brought forward by theeccentric r, which projects from the shaft of the lever N. This planalso shows the safety-catch It brought back by the beforementioned hornq.

Fig. 7 is a plan showing the position of the top lever, N, when the gunis closed.

In some cases, where I wish to obtain a little more leverage in bringingthe hammer back to the cocked position, I crank the safety-bolt, as isillustrated by Fig. 8 in both side elevation and plan.

When the gun is fired the forked mainspring propels the hammers forwardin just the same manner as explained in the case of the gun having anunder lever.

Fig. 10 also illustrates a top-lever action in side elevation, and thesame action is represented in plan by Fig. ll. Here also the top lever,N, opens the breech by moving the barrel-locking bolt 19 backward 5 butin this case the end of the barrel-locking bolt carries only one roller,8, which works against the rulinglever t, whose upper end bears againstthe projections u on the inner side of each of the hammers and forcesthem back into the cocked position. The extreme top end of this rulinglever talso' carries the safety-catch into its locked position over thetriggers.

Fig. 9 represents a top plan and alsoan in- Verted plan, showing thesafety-catch arranged so as to indicate the two barrels separately andtogether-t. 0., I can move forward the catch 1 allowing the right-handbarrel to be fired Without unlocking the safety-catch 2, which securesthe left-hand barrel against being discharged. lt would also beindicated which barrel was still loaded, and thus prevent many accidentsin the use of the gun in the field. The discharged barrel could also bereloaded without in any way interfering with the locked position of thebarrel remaining loaded.

Figs. 12, 13, and 14 illustrate my forked mainspring V split edgewise,so as to form two supplementary light legs or wings, to, for the sears,which enables me to do without the sear-spring .23, (shown in plan, Fig.3,) thus considerably steadying and simplifying the action by reducingthe number of parts, hesides lessening the liability of an y of theparts moving out of their positions. The double locking-catch is'alsoillustrated as applied to this action, thus forming a combination atonce simple, effective,and most secure against accident. of any kind.

Having now described several Ways of applying my hereinbefore-describedinvention in practice both to top and bottom lever guns, I

would have it clearly understood that I do not confine myself to theexact details herein set forth; but

I do claim 1. The combination, substantially as set forth, of the leverfor opening the breech, the hammer, and sear with the safety-catch h,sliding longitudinally in the top strap, and so combined with the hammerthat it is thereby retracted as the breech is opened and locks the sear,as described.

2. The combination, substantially as set forth, in a double so-calledhammerless gun, of the hammers, a four-leaf mainspring, the sear,and-the breech-openin g lever with a pair of safety-catches, h, slidinglongitudinally in the top strap and retracted by the hammers as thebreech is opened, each catch being independently movable to release itshammer, as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoingas my own I aflix my signature inthe presence of two witnesses.

FREDERICK ORUTUHL'EY.

Vitnesses:

GEORGE BARKER, CHAS. WILsoN.

